Gender Pay Gap

Definition of gender pay gap

Gender pay reporting legislation requires employers with 250 or more employees to publish statutory calculations every year showing how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees and is expressed as a percentage. It differs from equal pay, which is concerned with pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value.

Our data

1. Gender pay gap

Based on a snapshot date of 31 March 2017, our mean gender pay gap is 1.09% in favour of men. Our median gender pay gap is 1.98% in favour of women. In benchmarking terms, the median pay gap for the UK is 18.1% in favour of men and public sector 18.3% in favour of men. The private sector measures 24.5% in favour of men (ONS, 2016).

2. Gender distribution by salary quartiles

The lower and upper quartile shows the gap to be 16% and 6.66% in favour of men respectively and the middle quartiles 12% and 6.66% in favour of women respectively. 3. Bonus gap

The proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment is 22.11% and 30.30% respectively with a difference of 8.19%. The mean bonus amount is in favour of women by 0.65%. The insignificant gap would suggest that our performance management strategy is fair and transparent.

Action we are taking

The main factors we believe influence this are the availability of agile flexible working patterns (particularly those that do not have an impact on pay such as compressed hours and the ability to work from home) which are popular with those returning from maternity or with caring responsibilities. In addition, we operate ‘blind recruitment’ at the application stage and offer all roles with the option of flexible working to ensure an inclusive recruitment experience.

In terms of performance management, we hold moderation meetings with HR present to guard against discrimination or favouritism and that all markings are fair and consistent. We are continuing to develop our diversity and inclusion training and awareness weeks and offer wellbeing initiatives throughout the year. We also provide an Employee Assistance Programme that is frequently used by staff for advice on a number of topics. Mentoring and career coaching are areas we are looking to increase uptake in and this will benefit both genders.